LETTER | Racial stereotypes in Malaysian literature

LETTER | It was gratifying when I found out that Kuala Lumpur was selected by Unesco as the World Book Capital 2020. I reminisce over my incredible experience as a KL BACA ambassador for Malaysian Book Publishers Association (MABOPA) during the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair 2018. 

The exhibition was customarily visited by children chaperoned by parents or school teachers and they were eager to participate in the activities conducted. In fact, the aim of KL BACA is to foster a culture of reading and inclusiveness. 

Kuala Lumpur was elected by virtue of its inclusivity in education, the development of a well-read community and reading availability in every part of the city. Kuala Lumpur is represented as a city of contrasts and diversity and it is reflected in the pages of Malaysians’ written works.

My zest for the Malaysian publishing and literary scene compelled me to write a thesis concerning the racial stereotypes portrayed in Malaysian literature. I amassed a stack of books which include Interlok by Abdullah Hussain and KL NOIR Series (Red, White, Blue and Yellow) by Amir Muhammad as they abound with representations of the ethnological image of Malaysian society. 

Interlok was written about the time before the Federation of Malaya acquired independence from the British in 1957. It revolves around the lives of three families representing the three main communities – Malays, Chinese, and Indians – in Malaya and their undertakings to find a place under the Malayan sun during the crucial and rough point in time in the nation’s history. 

KL NOIR Series is a short story anthology in four volumes narrating Kuala Lumpur’s covert and concealed side. In this era, novels adopting a noir style are written to demonstrate the society’s agitation and distress to prevailing social affairs and corruption.

The Malays were depicted as conservative, religious and politically ingenuous in  Interlok. They lived in poverty but they’re contented in their poverty-stricken ways. Besides that, they were depicted as notoriously lazy; a character in Interlok forbids his children from mingling with Malay children in fear that his children will grow lazier. 

In the KL NOIR Series, the Malays were also numerously depicted as indolent. They were pictured as entitled; a character in Breaking Point by Zufar Ismail Zeid (KL NOIR: Yellow) was a racist Malay man, a revered political figure and he condemned other races for ‘bleeding the country dry’. The character met his end by a police officer whom he offended with racially crude statements.

In Interlok, the author described the Chinese as hardworking, highly-educated and wealthy. Yet, they were also described as avaricious and selfish. An egocentric character in Interlok forced a family to depart from their household after they were bereft of the finances to remain there. 

In the KL NOIR Series, the Chinese were also portrayed as opulent. The protagonist of Mud by Brian Gomez (KL NOIR: Red) coveted to be as affluent as the Chinese and convinced himself that "there are only rich Chinese and potentially rich Chinese". The main character was racially discriminated by Chinese salespeople in his early life and it was the watershed that prompted him to entrepreneurial success.

In addition, the Indians were narrated as loyal and melodramatic in Interlok. The Indian immigrants in the novel were faithful to their wives who awaited them in their native land and trustworthy in their friendship with the Malays, forged within the rubber plantations. 

The author also broached on the subject of caste distinctions; Tamils born on a low-ranking caste were prohibited to socialise with those on a higher caste and if the veto was violated, the proletarian will be clamoured with racial slurs. 

In Girl Power by Subashini Navaratnam (KL NOIR: Yellow), the protagonist laments about her life as an Indian girl due to her obligation to prioritise her family’s preferences above her own aspirations. The author portrayed the Indians as competitive among themselves and stressed on the issue concerning the submission of Indian women to domineering patriarchs. 

The meekness and hardship endured by the protagonist "under the tyranny of her own docility" culminated in the parricide of her uncle who belittled her physical features and harassed her on the grounds of familial familiarity.

To date, Malaysia is included in the group of 15 countries that withhold the ratification of International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd). Racial discrimination could precipitate in the violation of basic human rights incorporated in the Federal Constitution. 

Thus, Malaysian literature plays a critical role in combating racism and xenophobia in the age of globalisation, especially in multiracial countries such as Malaysia. 

The racial stereotypes in Malaysian literature adversely impacted the personas in the narratives and is an indication of the gravity of racial discrimination to our society. Some depictions of racial stereotypes also parallel each other albeit on different narratives and we should adjust our efforts accordingly to tackle the most prevalent racial bias. 

"A city that reads is a city that cares."

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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